Cue making

[gc1]

So i finally decided to give making a cue a try as its something i have fancied doing for quite some time. Now this is going to be no master piece and will no doubt make many mistakes along the way .

So the first error in doing this was the fact that the cue blank i used was made up of two pieces of ash (1m+0.6m) which were joined together with a long dowel. This was done as i couldnt easily get a hold of a single piece of ash 60" long x 1.5" sq and since was just for practice thought will be ok especially if i make it into a 3/4 cue and split at this point.

Cue blank was then cut down to a square taper and then gradually planed to a circular blank and is now in almost complete for this stage. I did fail to take pics of my progress other than one picture below, not that there's much to see.

Cue by grmcalder, on Flickr

Wow it doesn't half take a lot of planing to do this but was rather rewarding and calming :-).

Next step is to prepare the ebony for splicing....fingers crossed and lets see how this turns out.:concern:

When it comes to finishing what do cue makers use to get the black grain in the ash?

Any tips, recommendations or highlighting of my errors are all welcome.

[Catch 22]

I've also tried my hand at making a cue . I've made two thus far . Both have mistakes but it's all a learning curve

The ash in two pieces joined with a dowel is something I've heard of other cue makers doing , some add the weight at that stage and splice over the top which hides the join. However the long section being only 1m seems too short IMO .

Any type of black stain will darken the grain . Ebony wood stain works just fine . Paint the full cue with it and sand it back with a fine grade paper .

Good luck mate .

Il be starting cue 3 soon but it's a frustrating craft trying to get your head around ain't it

[gc1]

Wow i never thought people would do it this way :-) actually thought it was going to be pretty daft trying it like this. My plan was to add some weight where the dowel is before i fit the joint (that is all going well haha).

Yeah i would have preferred it longer but will give it a try like this for 1st go and see.

Good luck with cue no 3. Can i ask is there a good way of selecting the ash to use? Im thinking if all goes well and i want to try again i would be beter buying a plank and cutting it up so i can get full length.

[RogiBear]

Good on you for having a go. Catch is correct in that some makers do use a split shaft but its usually around the 1.2m length.

For the grain use a black grain filler (or whatever colour you wish)

Out of interest how do you intend to fit the joint? Without a lathe its pretty much impossible.

[Catch 22]

Wow i never thought people would do it this way :-) actually thought it was going to be pretty daft trying it like this. My plan was to add some weight where the dowel is before i fit the joint (that is all going well haha).

Yeah i would have preferred it longer but will give it a try like this for 1st go and see.

Good luck with cue no 3. Can i ask is there a good way of selecting the ash to use? Im thinking if all goes well and i want to try again i would be beter buying a plank and cutting it up so i can get full length.

Thanks mate . TBH I got my ash blind . Didn't get to select it or see it first etc so had no say on chevrons etc . I was just told there would be no knots or bad bits

I did get in contact with a saw mill about an hours drive from my house and they have agreed that I could go select boards from them if I liked . But I'm not at any kind of level where I'd spend my time doing that just to learn the craft . Much easier to order online and get whatever comes .

I got lucky in that I got some 30mm dowels at 58inches long to practice . But you can also order square blanks online/ebay etc

[golferson123]

use baby oil when you are sanding and the ebony will go into the shaft just nice

[gc1]

Good on you for having a go. Catch is correct in that some makers do use a split shaft but its usually around the 1.2m length.

For the grain use a black grain filler (or whatever colour you wish)

Out of interest how do you intend to fit the joint? Without a lathe its pretty much impossible.

With a lot of luck :-). I dont have a lathe so not quite sure yet. I originally wanted to just make a 1 piece cue as i new doing a split cue would be really difficult however due to length of wood available for practicing on i ended up thinking i would need to split it at the point i joined the two pieces. I may just leave it at 1 piece and see how it goes but not so sure it will be strong enough.

[The Doctor]

Well done having a go. It's a lot of trial and error before you find the way you like to do it.
I'd look at some woodworking videos on YouTube to help you come up with some jigs to make your life easier when splicing.

[gc1]

Well done having a go. It's a lot of trial and error before you find the way you like to do it.
I'd look at some woodworking videos on YouTube to help you come up with some jigs to make your life easier when splicing.

Cheers, i will have a look later

[Shockerz]

Well done having a go. It's a lot of trial and error before you find the way you like to do it.
I'd look at some woodworking videos on YouTube to help you come up with some jigs to make your life easier when splicing.

I remember looking at the Niche cues jig which seem a bit interesting and they seemed to have a good method......